Concrete well screen



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 2

W. E. LILLIE ET AL CONCRETE WELL SCREEN P /WLW 7 f 4 I I I l I I l l I I Wallace E. Lillie George F. Lillie INVENTORS BY I Aug. 7, 1956 Filed April 21, 1955 Aug. 7, 1956 W- E. LlLLiE ET AL CONCRETE WELL SCREEN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21,. 1955 Fig. 4

Wallace E. Lillie George E. Lillie Aug.'7, 1956 w. E. LILLIE ETAL 2,757,743

CONCRETE WELL SCREEN Filed April 21, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 5 Wall ace Lillie George F. Lil/i JNV L" RS Unimd tates Patent- 757,743 eonennni Wurst Wallace E; Liui rremom, and George F. Lillie,

. Scottsblulf; Nebr. Aispriatieii April it, 1953, serial No. 502,955

'2 Claims; 61. ras -227 invention relates generally to a concrete well construction and more particularly to a novel well screen for use in the concrete well construction. The primary objectpf the present invention resides in the provision of a well construction which is of exceedingly long life, but strong and durable enough to be used in wells of eve n considerable depth, in which the various parts may be easily assembled and lowered into position, and wherein means are provided for proper alignment of the various portions of the Well casing.

A further obj efct of the invention resides in the provision of a concrete well screen which is provided with vertically extending slots thiethrough of tapering configuration so as to prevent any possibility of the clogging of the slots, the slots being so arranged as to rr'ii'riimize the effect of the slots upon the strength of the well screens, the well screens being so arranged as to be capable of supporting loads including the sections of the well casing in a well of considerable height and in which the well screens are capable of resisting the compressive effects of the earth even at considerable depth.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel arrangement of parts wherein cables are utilized to hold the novel well screen on a plug, the cables being secured to each other by suitable cable clamps and extending upwardly through the well screen as well as the sections of the well casing.

Still further objects and features of this invention reside in the provision of a well construction and well screen used therewith which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to install thereby permitting wide distribution and utilization at a minimum of expense to the purchaser.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this concrete well screen and well construction, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of example only, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the concrete well construction comprising the present invention shown installed in the well with the well being shown in section;

Figure 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional detail view as taken along the plane of line 22 in Figure l and illustrating the arrangement of the spacers for use in maintaining the casing sections in alignment;

Figure 3 is an enlarged partial exploded perspective view of the invention illustrating the arrangement of parts between the plug, the cables, and a section of well screen;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional detail view as taken along the plane of line 4-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional detail view as taken along the plane of line 55 in Figure 3 and illustrating the formation of the well screen;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional detail view as taken along the plane of line 66 in Figure 5 and illustrating portions of adjacent sections of well screen;

- canbe best seen i'n Figures 3, 5

Patented Aug. 7, 1956 Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the spacers utilized in the invention;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one size of easing section; and

Figure 9 is a perspective view of another casing section;

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral 10 is used to generally designate the concrete well 'construction comprising the present invention. As is usual in well construction, a shaft 12 is dug into the earth by any suitable means and into water bearing sands as at 14. When a suitable level of these water bearing sands 14 is reached, a concrete plug 16 is lowered to the bottom of the shaft 12. This concrete plug 16 can be best seen in Figures 3 and {land includes a solid body 18 having a pair of holes 20 and 22 extending vertically therethrough through which cables 24 and 26 extend. The ends of the cables as at 28 and 30 are secured to each other by means of cable clamps 32 and 34.

Embedded in the body 18 ofthe plug 16 is a cable having the ends 36 and 38 thereof tied together by means of a cable clamp 40 which is embedded in the body 16. The cable includes a loop portion extending above the plug 16, the loop 42 being used in the raising and lowering of the plug 16 as may be desired. Positioned above the plug 16 are any suitable number of well screens as at 44 and 46 dependent, of course, on the depth er the water bearing sands. The well screens 44 and 46 may be of identical coast-mean and this construction and :6. The'well screen 46 includes a substantially cylindrical body 48 having a. central bore 50 the're thrbugh as well as vertical holes 52 and 54 in the tubular side walls of the body 48 formed by the central aperture 50. The cables 24 and 26 extend upwardly through the holes 52 and 54.

A plurality of rows of slots 56 are formed in the body 48 of the well screen 46 and each of these slots 56 taper so as to increase in size from the outer surface 58 of the well screen 46 to the inner surface 60 formed by the centrally disposed bore 50 with the slots 56 being vertically arranged so as to have little adverse effect on either the compressive strength of the well screen 46 or against the resistance of the well screen 46 to compressive action exerted by the earth materials at the depth to which the well screen 46 is lowered.

Received on the well screen 44 and having apertures as at 62 and 64 through which the cables 24 and 26 extend, are a plurality of easing sections 66, 68, 70 and 72, each of which may be of any desired size, the casing section 70 being shown in Figure 8 and being shown as having apertures 74 and 76 therethrough, through which the cables 24 and 26 extend.

A filling of gravel 78 or the like, is provided for filter purposes and to prevent the water bearing sands from seeping into the well screens 44, 46. In order to maintain the sections of the well casing such as the sections 66 and 68 in alignment and spaced from the earth walls of the well shaft 12, there is provided a spacer arrangement including spacers as at 74, each of which are provided with apertures 76 and 78 therethrough for reception of cables 80 and 82 which tie the annularly disposed spacers 74 together in annularly spaced relationship whereby the inner edges of the spacers bear against the two abutting well casing sections 66 and 68 to hold these sections in alignment. It is to be recognized that the cables 80 and 82 can be tightened by any conventional means such as by twisting the cables 80 and 82 tightly to draw the cables taut under tension and positioned with the simultaneous lowering of the sections 66 and 68, as may be desired. The spacer arrangements including sets of spacers 74 are positioned with 3 about twenty foot intervals therebetween for the full depth of the well and are attached to the casing by cables twisted tightly so as to place the cables under tension before the casing is lowered into the well.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A well construction comprising a plug having cables secured thereto and extending upwardly therefrom, a well screen on said plug having a cylindrical body of cast concrete with a centrally disposed vertically extending bore forming tubular side walls, vertical holes in said tubular side walls, said cables extending upwardly through said holes, tubular casing sections having aper tures therethrough positioned above said well screen, said cables extending upwardly through said apertures, said cables extending beneath said plug, cable clamps securing said cables to each other below said plug, a plurality of spacers for holding said casing sections in alignment and spaced from the walls of the well shaft, said spacers engaging said casing sections at abutting edges thereof with portions of said spacers engaging one of said casing sections and having other portions extending above said one of said casing sections and engaging another of said casing sections superimposed on said one of said casing sections, said spacers being spaced annularly about said casing sections, and cables extending through said spacers with said cables being taut and under tension, said cables holding said spacers against the abutting casing sections to maintain said casing sections in alignment.

2. A well construction comprising a plug having cables secured thereto and extending upwardly therefrom, a Well screen on said plug having a cylindrical body of cast concrete with a centrally disposed vertically extending bore forming tubular side walls, vertical holes in said tubular side walls, said cables extending upwardly through said holes, tubular casing sections having apertures therethrough positioned above said well screen, said cables extending upwardly through said apertures, said cables extending beneath said plug, cable clamps securing said cables to each other below said plug, said body of said screen having vertical slots therethrough communicating with said bore, each of said slots being tapered so as to increase in size from the outer portions of said body to the inner portions thereof, a plurality of spacers for holding said casing sections in alignment and spaced from the walls of the well shaft, said spacers engaging said casing sections at abutting edges thereof with portions of said spacers engaging one of said casing sections and other portions of said spacers extending above one of said casing sections and engaging another of said casing sections superimposed on said one of said casing sections, said spacers being spaced annularly about said casing sections, and cables extending through said spacers with said cables being taut and under tension, said cables holding said spacers against the abutting casing sections to maintain said casing sections in alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 255,664 Pettingill Mar. 28, 1882 1,674,084 Austin Oct. 25, 1926 1,834,784 Johnson et al. Dec. 1, 1931 

